Hans-Joachim Rothenpieler was born in Plettenberg (North Rhine-Westphalia) on August 10, 1957.
He studied mechanical engineering at the University of Siegen and has been with the Volkswagen Group since 1986. He initially assumed duties there in the area of engine design for commercial vehicles and technical project management for passenger cars for the VW brand.
Beginning in 1994 Rothenpieler was, among other things, Head of Total Vehicle Development at ŠKODA, Board Member for Technical Development at the premium brand Bentley and Head of Total Vehicle Development for Passenger Cars.
In 2004 he assumed responsibility as Product Line Manager in Technical Development at the Volkswagen brand and thus was responsible for the development of numerous VW models. Rothenpieler became Head of Quality Assurance at Volkswagen AG in 2007.
In 2010 he assumed the positions of Spokesman for the Board of Management and Managing Director for Technology at Volkswagen Sachsen GmbH. He was appointed in 2014 as Board Member for Technical Development of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand.
From 2016 Rothenpieler was responsible for Group Quality Management at Volkswagen AG.
Hans-Joachim Rothenpieler has been a member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG since November 1, 2018. He is responsible there for Technical Development.